Xavier Moraga, the manager of the Hotel Gavarni and the green hotel Eiffel Trocadéro is committed to transform his Parisian hotels into green hotels. He won the European Ecolabel and the Excellence Award of Tripadvisor. His friend, Paige Donner, is the creator of the blogs Greening Hollywood and Green Blog Network. The green awareness in the United States is already set in the minds and many stars commit in the fight against global warming. The great chains like the boutique hotels more and more commit on some points, the “green keys”, like the waste recycling, the use of less water, the purchase of bio and local products. Travelers and tourists choose the green hotels because they feel better, but they don’t want to lower the quality of the services they are accustomed to. Involvement : Yes. Loss of quality : No. Paris has everything to gain by becoming more green and by developing its offer in hotel trade because the guests are more and more responsible, and Paris stays the most beautiful city of the world, and also the most visited!

Paige Donner is an L.A. based journalist, writer and filmmaker. Having worked as an entertainment journalist since the early 90′s when she first started writing for Variety, Paige is now focusing on Greening Hollywood, her media platform that reports on the ways the entertainment industry is embracing a more sustainable and environmentally respectful way of doing business.
Paige is convinced that having lived as a child in countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Japan and the U.S. territory of Guam and then as a young adult in countries such as France and Germany, has profoundly shaped the way she sees and interprets the world.

According to Xavier Moraga, the manager of the green hotels Gavarni and Eiffel Trocadéro, the best way to discover Paris is the Vélib’! You just have to subscribe at a Vélib’ stand with your credit card, or go to a reception situated in the great metro stations. He explains to his friend from LA, Paige Donner, the creator of the website Greening Hollywood, how to best use the Parisian public transports. Of course, there is the metro, but also the RER, the suburban lines which are fast and practical if you plan to visit Fontainebleau, the Bois de Boulogne or the Bois de Vincennes, or go to Disneyland Paris with the children during the family trips…
But the best way to stroll in Paris is on foot. There is nothing like the pleasure to walk in the squares and the beautiful avenues of the capital, take a few photos in front of the historical monuments and contemplate the grandiose landscapes of the City Of Love !

On a personal plan, Xavier Moraga is a man firmly committed to ecology. He has made every effort to apply these principles in his profession. He started his profession as a receptionist 11 years ago, and now he is the manager of the Hotel Gavarni, a hotel which stands since 1908. Thanks to his work and his convictions, it became the first independent hotel in Paris winner of the European Ecolabel and an Excellence Award on Tripadvisor, in the Green rubric. Pioneer in the field, he opened a second green hotel at the Trocadéro, equipped with solar panels; never seen before in Paris. The Hotel Gavarni and the Hotel Eiffel Trocadéro are luxury and charming establishments, but 100% green.

The Hotel Gavarni is the first independent hotel winner of the European Ecolabel in Paris. There are 84 criterions to satisfy in order to obtain this award, and the criterions are the same throughout the European Union. The Hotel Eiffel Trocadéro is the second green hotel of Xavier Moraga, who stays very involved in the fight against global warming : solar panels, water recycling, organic cotton bed linen and breakfast without pesticides are the daily objectives of this responsible hotelkeeper.
The district of the hotel is ideal if you want to visit and discover Paris, just steps from the Eiffel Tower, the Trocadéro and the rue de Passy : one of the most charming and typical district of the capital. The staff is very welcoming and will carefully take care of you. They will recommend good places, lovely walks, and will make sure that you will not forget your Parisian journey.

Xavier Moraga, manager of the Hotel Gavarni, the first independent hotel winner of the European Ecolabel in Paris, has just bought another hotel : the Hotel Eiffel Trocadéro, formerly Les Jardins du Trocadéro. These two hotels opened the way to the responsible hotel trade in Paris. Xavier Moraga is very involved regarding ecology and his project is to make a hotel as green as it is possible to do, with solar panels on the roof, showers recycling water, an efficient system of lingerie, bio products for the breakfast…

These two hotels are ideally situated if you want to discover Paris. The hotel Gavarni is situated in a street adjacent to the shopping rue de Passy, which is very typical and lively. The Hotel Eiffel Trocadéro overhangs the Place du Trocadéro. Both are just steps from the Eiffel Tower (visible from your room), the Palais de Chaillot, the Cité de l’Architecture, the Musée d’art Moderne, the Palais de Tokyo, the Musée Guimet, and the Musée de la Mode Galliéra.
There are several taxi-ranks, metro and Velib’ stations near the hotel, and lovely strolls to do. The bateaux-mouches (riverboats) are near too! The surroundings are very romantic. These green hotels keep all the Parisian charm, and yet you will feel responsible thanks to them during your stay in Paris!

Real loft of biodiversity, Le Retour à la Terre (in English, Back to Earth) is a temple for the senses pleasure. This smart grocer’s does everything in order to make biological products available for everybody. We can find the usual good products like fruits and vegetables, dairy products, meats, cosmetics and cleaning products but also products coming from the smallest productions, rare honeys, forgotten fruits and vegetables (some of which directly come from their own orchard, in Normandy). We protect what we well know, that’s why at Le Retour à la Terre, you will also discover still too little known plant and animal species, races or varieties. Of course, all the products are from organic farming and some are certified Nature et Progrès or Demeter. You want to muck in ? The staff will advise you if you want to make your own bread, yoghurts or jams. You will become a real green producer !

Opened from Monday to Saturday from 10am until 8pm, late night opening on Thursday until 9pm.

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Le Retour à la Terre
114, Avenue Philippe Auguste
75011 Paris
France
T. : +33.(0)1.44.93.81.81
contact@leretouralaterre.fr
http://leretouralaterre.fr

What is the link between banking and sustainable development? The documentary directed by Jocelyne Lemaire-Darnaud gives us the first clues to answer that question. The purpose of this investigation about the inside story of the banking products ,in theaters by September 29th,is to consumers who want to make some savings realize that their money can be a powerful mean toward a more responsible economy, but only if the banking system becomes more transparent.

“Me, finance and sustainable development”.
A documentary in theaters on September 29
Directed by Jocelyne Lemaire-Arnaud. French full length film (1h34mn/2010)

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Did you know that a blog post represents about 2 km by car? And that a Google request represents about 60m? Internet is an extraordinary but polluting communication tool. Nevertheless there are simple eco friendly measures that can be implemented.
The project called “My blog is neutral”, which started in Germany, was created to neutralize the harmful effects of your blog on the environment for the next 50 years! There are 3 ways of participating in this : the blogger writes a short article about the program, includes the button of the logo” My blog is neutral” on his blog and send the link of the article to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de. After verifying your involvement, the Arbor Day foundation plants your tree. Thanks to this initiative, already 40396 trees have been planted. A very easy and simple way of getting involved for our environment. It’s now time for everybody to key in!

Kaufda – « Make it green »